Day 35 — Communication Skill
My learning for the day
Today I want to summarise two TED talks on Communication.
Talk 1 — How miscommunication happens (and how to avoid it)
Educator — Katherine Hampsten, Communications Scholar
Summary -
Have you ever talked with a friend about a problem only to realize that he just doesn’t seem to grasp why the issue is so important to you?
Have you ever presented an idea to a group and it’s met with utter confusion?
The answer is miscommunication, and in some form or another, we’ve all experienced it.
For decades, researchers have asked, “What happens when we communicate?” (more about this in transmission models).
We send and receive messages through our own subjective lenses. When communicating, one person expresses her interpretation of a message, and the person she’s communicating with hears his own interpretation of that message.
The person interprets the message based on their relationship with the other person and their individual understanding of the semantics and connotations of the exact words being used.
These are some simple practices that will help us become less subjective -
- recognize that passive hearing and active listening are not the same. We must engage actively with the verbal and nonverbal feedback and adjust our message to facilitate greater understanding
- listen with our eyes, ears and gut. Remember that communication is more than just words
- take time to understand as you try to be understood. In the rush to express ourselves, it’s easy to forget that communication is a two-way street
- be aware of our personal perceptual filters. Elements of our experience, including our culture, community, and family, influence how we see the world. Say, “This is how I see the problem, but how do you see it?” Don’t assume that your perception is the objective (and absolute) truth.
These four above help us work toward sharing a dialogue with others to reach a common understanding together.
Talk 2 — The importance of emotional tone in the digital age
Speaker — Kareem Yusuf, an AI Guru
Summary -
We very well know the importance of tone in communication. Tone reflects our intent, emotions, inspiration, guidance…. A right tone of communication creates magic; the same words but a wrong tone can create a feeling of tyranny
How does the above translate in digital interaction?
Here’s an example of tone in an sms — “You did what?” These are words devoid of tone. A slight additional text adds a tone — “You did what?!!!” or “You did what?!!! LoL”; with emojis coming in, you start adding more emotions/ tone to the text “You did what?!!! 👅💪😆”; an addition of a gif to the message brings in more emotions. The digital interaction has added so much more to the study of tone.
Behavioural analytics is a recent branch of business analytics. Behavioral analytics is collating data from various digital sources/ data elements to understand how consumers act and why; And to predict how they are likely to act in the future. This helps organisations to make the right offers to the right consumer segments at the right time with the right tone.
Simple behavioural data such as how many people visited the page, what seems to be of more interest, how many times you visit the page, what did you do next, what your location is etc etc can provide huge data to analytics to personalise the communication. It helps build the right intimacy by providing appropriate messaging.
The ultimate purpose of all the analytics is to serve the right emotions.
What is Communication Skill?
Communication Skill is the ability to effectively give and receive information.
Different types of communication — Verbal (oral/ written)/ Non-verbal/ Visual, Formal/ Informal, One-to-one/ One-to many…
The purpose of communication is to inform, express feelings, imagine, influence, and meet social expectations
My learning so far on this topic
Day 5 post — 5 Ways to Build Your Personal Brand Every Time You Speak
Day 15 post — 3 Simple Frameworks to Give Effective Feedback
Day 25 post — Pixar’s Top 6 Rules of Great Storytelling
How to improve this skill?
Set a goal to become a go-to person by mastering the art and science of Communication.
Follow the LAST model to build your personal brand as a Guru of Communication.
Learn — Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of Communication
Apply -
Identify a model suitable to you
Create a template to document the flow of the process
Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
Maintain record/ process flow of every important activity you did with respect to Communication
Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be used for sharing/ training others
Share — Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner (social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
Train — Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so that, over time, your organization benefits from your efforts
Purpose of this document
I took a 66-day challenge to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
My objectives in learning these skills were — To strengthen my mind to face life’s challenges with ease, To use these skills in my work life for better performance, To use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, and To open new possibilities to surprise myself.
This is my next 66-day challenge (from 10 April 2020) — To share my Life Skills learning with my social media friends.
I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF defines Life skills as — psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories of skills
- cognitive skills for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- interpersonal skills for communicating and interacting effectively with others.
Which LifeSkills are covered?
The World Health Organisation identified these basic areas of life skills that are relevant across cultures:
1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10. Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand — prevention of HIV/AIDS
- Mexico — prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom — child abuse prevention
- USA — prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia — positive socialization of children.
(Previously published on LinkedIn)